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The Great Depression that hammered the domestic economy between the world wars left a mark on the people who lived through it. Anyone with parents or grandparents who endured the widespread hardships of that era surely picked up a thing or two about thrift. If it’s broken, you fix it. If it’s still useful, you use it. Replacement was not an option. Few goods were available, and there wasn’t money enough to buy them anyway. Nothing was taken for granted because waste simply wasn’t an option.
Cherami and Jason Thomas must have gotten that message somewhere down the line. They took the idea and turned it into a business. Urban Farmhouse Designs salvages wood and metal and repurposes those finds into sturdy, functional and fashionable furniture at their Oklahoma City shop and showroom. The business itself came about in the wake of the recent (and arguably ongoing) Great Recession.
The Thomases were enjoying a successful homebuilding business in the early 2000s. “We were building 150-200 houses a year in northwest Arkansas,” says Cherami. The real estate market crash wiped them out completely. “We lost everything—literally—after the crash,” Cherami recalls. With a few thousand dollars to their name, one undersized vehicle for a family with four kids and not much else, the Thomases did what anyone else would do. “We bought a pile of wood.”
Who wouldn’t? Jason, who studied business finance at the University of Oklahoma, resold the wood on Craig’s List and turned a tidy profit. Before depleting their portfolio, he crafted a table out of the scrap lumber and sold it as well. With that, a business plan was in motion.
Urban Farmhouse Designs has spent the past year working in—and on—their warehouse, showroom and workshop space in preparation for a grand opening on Saturday, June 13. Visitors can view completed pieces in the showroom and watch works in progress through windows that look out over the shop.
The company sources their wood and metal material from around the country. Indiana hay barns, Michigan and Montana boxcars and flooring from Oklahoma flourmills make up a good portion of the stock, but Jason is always on the lookout. “Whenever, wherever, we seek cool reclaimed material,” he says. Urban Farmhouse also features a metal shop, so their offerings are not limited to strictly wood.
The results are spectacular and remarkably durable. “You can’t hurt it,” Cherami says of the reclaimed wood furniture. “The more weathered the better.” Some of the most popular items are farmhouse-style dinner tables and benches. Metal and wood desks have also been a big seller. While much of the stock goes to residential customers, the company’s craftsmanship has opened the door to commercial clients as well. Due to the nature of the raw material, no two pieces are alike. Some designs have proved popular, but the end result is always unique. Nail holes, hinge marks, weathering and whatnot, every item is a conversation piece.
Reclamation is at the heart—and soul—of the Thomases business model. “We feel like we got a second chance,” Cherami muses, recalling the collapse of their home-building venture. “So we’re big into second chances.” Many of the artisans working in their shop were hired from halfway houses. “Sometimes you just need a second chance,” Cherami continues. “We’re in position to give that to some people.”
The business scraped together from a woodpile can be whittled down to a single sentence. “We sell reclaimed furniture, built out of reclaimed material and made by reclaimed people,” Cherami says. “That’s kind of our tagline.” Simple, sturdy and smartly done—Urban Farmhouse Designs is a business any Depression survivor would appreciate.
Written by Sean Becker
